China Entertainment’s rescue plan is hard to come by

Chapter 870 Golden Horse Awards: Breaking a Historic Moment [Two-in-One]

November 24, Luodong Cultural Factory, Yilan, Taipei.

The 49th Taiwan Golden Horse Awards will be held again.

Sun Yi, along with Liu Yifei and a group of capable assistants from Starry Sky Entertainment, flew to Taiwan a few days in advance to attend the Golden Horse Awards ceremony.

They seemed completely unconcerned about the public opinion storm surrounding the revenue-sharing battle, giving the impression that they would continue singing and dancing as usual.

But the reporters clearly wouldn't let this opportunity pass them by.

We've finally seen these two, how could we let them go?

Outside the red carpet, entertainment reporters from various media outlets swarmed around the two of them for interviews, while the celebrities and actors around them looked on with envy.

It's truly a case of either extreme drought or flooding.

"Director Sun, Yi Fei, what are your thoughts on the ongoing revenue-sharing negotiations in mainland China?"

How should I look at it? I'll look at it standing up.

Isn't that a pointless question?

Everyone knows that this revenue-sharing negotiation was initiated by Sun Yi's Starry Sky, and his own opinion is, of course, what is stated in the announcement.

Sun Yi had doubts about the professionalism of the reporters in front of him, but sometimes he also understood them.

Because what they want isn't a real answer, but rather your response to them.

Whatever you say.

Since they're already here, we should at least give them this much face.

Sun Yi approached Hua Yi and answered calmly:
"As everyone knows, film is a cultural industry with the attribute of 'content is king.' Generally speaking, it is necessary to encourage upstream producers to create good content and good works, so content providers usually receive a larger share of the revenue."

"Hollywood also adopts a tiered revenue-sharing method based on the release date. For some top films, the production company can take 70% of the box office in the first week, 60% in the second week, and 40% or less from the third week onwards. Even in Russia, the production company and the theaters split the revenue 50/50. Our revenue-sharing model is far behind the actual needs."

Sun Yi's answer satisfied the reporters, but it was clearly not enough, and someone immediately followed up with more questions.

"Director Sun, as far as I know, what you said is indeed true, but it's also good to see the differences between China and other countries. Many cinemas in the United States are located in residential areas, where rental costs are very low, while cinemas in China are mostly located in bustling areas, where cost pressures are much higher. Isn't increasing the revenue share by 2% at once too high?"

This reporter is clearly on the side of the cinema chains.

However, Sun Yi cannot say that his point of view is wrong, because the rent for cinemas in the United States is indeed lower than that in China.

"This reporter, the situation you described does indeed exist objectively. I understand the difficulties of operating cinemas in China. Please don't forget that Starry Sky also operates cinemas. That's why I think a 2-point increase is not too high, but just right."

Sun Yi had only answered half of his question when he saw the little girl next to him eager to try, constantly giving him meaningful glances.

He understood immediately and promptly shut up.

Okay, please begin your performance.

"I can actually answer this question." Liu Yifei leaned closer to the microphone. "Don't think that two percent of the revenue sharing is roughly equivalent to 100 million in box office revenue. It seems like a lot, but it's really nothing."

"Let me give you an example so you can understand. South Korea has a population of 5000 million, but the annual number of moviegoers is 500 million, which is more than double. If we can provide better content and increase everyone's enthusiasm for watching movies, then there will be 26 billion viewers. Even if the ticket price is 20 yuan, the box office revenue will exceed 2 billion won, which is twice the current amount."

"In other words, the theaters' revenue can double. Compared to that, what is a box office share of 1 million?"

"It's not that we don't have a market, it's just a matter of how to do it."

Yay! ...

Not only the reporters at the scene, but even Sun Yi was shocked after hearing the girl's answer.

Is this still the same silly, clumsy person who loves to sleep in and act cute?

"Alright everyone, there are still people waiting to be interviewed, let's go in first."

Seeing Sun Yi's expression, Liu Yifei was very pleased with herself. She hooked her arm around his and pulled him away.

Sun Yi's eyes were wide open the whole time.

"Who are you? Give me back my wife."

"you!!!"

Liu Yifei was so angry that she tripped and almost fell.

She was wearing a burgundy velvet dress tonight with a very long skirt, so she had to be very careful when walking, or she could easily trip over it.

Sun Yi quickly bowed and helped her straighten her skirt.

Joking aside, we can't let our wife actually fall.

"Did you prepare a speech in advance?"

"Mind your own business~ I'm happy to."

When Sun Yi saw the girl's proud little expression, he was certain that she had indeed prepared in advance.

Otherwise, he would never have believed that his wife, who had a penchant for boasting during interviews, could give such a well-reasoned and evidence-based answer.

In fact, Liu Yifei did search on Baidu before coming, knowing that attending such an awards ceremony would inevitably involve a reporter interview session.

At this critical juncture, reporters will undoubtedly be asking about the revenue-sharing negotiations.

She didn't want to be just a pretty face next to her brother; she had to give him some face.

Even last-minute preparation can be effective.

Oh dear, haha, I've learned a whole bunch of things!
The awards ceremony officially began at 7 p.m.

Compared to the Hong Kong Film Awards in Hong Kong, the ceremony here is in Mandarin, which makes it easier to understand.

Moreover, Sun Yi found it quite interesting that Taiwanese girls spoke in a sweet, coquettish way.

My mind involuntarily began to imagine what it would be like if Liu Tianxian spoke like that.

"Brother, I like you so much!"

Ugh~ It's so spicy, it's making my eyes numb.

This year's Golden Horse Awards can be said to be the purest one yet, not only is the chairman of the jury Andy Lau, but there is also a jury member Jiang Wenli, and even the host is Huang Bo.

It can be said to truly encompass the entire Chinese-language entertainment industry.

At the start of the ceremony, Huang Bo and Zeng Baoyi started joking around on stage.

"Baoyi, do I look handsome today?"

"You, do you even resemble the word 'handsome'?"

"How is it not related?" Huang Bo flipped his hair in a flamboyant manner. "I graduated from the Beijing Film Academy after all. My class was full of handsome men and beautiful women."

"Really? I don't believe it."

"How can you not believe it? Look over there, sitting in the audience is Liu Yifei, my classmate~"

The audience burst into laughter, and the camera immediately cut to Liu Yifei, who was sitting next to Sun Yi in the audience.

She covered her face in embarrassment, but could only nod helplessly in acknowledgment.

Huang Bozhen and Liu Yifei were in the same year at the Beijing Film Academy, just in different classes.

Back in school, we didn't really interact much, but in the last two years we've run into each other frequently at various award ceremonies, so we've become quite familiar. If the other person is just making a joke, I certainly can't take it personally.

Besides, Huang Bo's joking around was also to liven up the atmosphere and save everyone from having to worry about the distinction between insiders and outsiders; we're all family.

Sun Yi clapped along, earning a big eye roll from the little girl. Once the atmosphere was right, the awards ceremony officially began.

The Golden Horse Awards are quite different from the Golden Rooster and Golden Horse Awards; they have more categories and seem to be moving closer to the Oscars.

Awards include a whole host of categories and post-production awards, such as Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary, Best Short Film, Best Sound Effects, Best Editing, and so on.

The opening record for Gravity was the best sound effects.

Wang Jingtian accepted the award on behalf of the creative team.

The second award I received was for Best Visual Effects.

This award is basically predetermined. Looking at all the films in the competition, none of them can compare to Starry Night in terms of visual effects.

After all, Starry Night's special effects technology has now reached the top level of Hollywood.

After the Best Newcomer award was presented, the remaining awards were the major ones.

The Best Supporting Actress award went to Leung Jing for her role in "Design of Death," while the Best Supporting Actor award went to Ronald Cheng for his role in "Vulgaria."

When it came to the Best Actress award, Huang Bo, last year's Best Actor winner, went on stage to present the award. After introducing the nominees, he decisively tore open the award envelope.

Liu Yifei has already won many awards, and her mindset is quite mature. She's not too nervous, but she still has a little bit of anticipation in her heart.

The camera pans to Huang Bo, whose eyes widen in surprise upon seeing the envelope; he clearly hadn't expected this outcome.

He lowered his head slightly, approached the microphone, and said, word by word, "The winner of the 49th Golden Horse Award for Best Actress is Gwei Lun-mei, for 'Girlfriend Boyfriend'."

Just as applause was about to erupt from the audience, Huang Bo's voice rang out again.

"as well as."

Holy crap, a double-yolk egg?
Just as all the guests were astonished, Huang Bo revealed the answer.

Liu Yifei, "Gravity"!

Upon hearing Xiao Nizi's name, Sun Yi felt relieved. He had been thinking about how to comfort Liu Tianxian when Huang Bo mentioned Gui Lunmei.

It has to be admitted that Huang Bo is a guy who knows how to keep people in suspense.

Liu Yifei excitedly gave Sun Yi a big hug.

She was quite surprised, considering that the Golden Horse Awards has never had a tie for Best Actress before. Tonight, she has made history.

She gave Sun Yi a light kiss, then straightened her skirt, went on stage, accepted the award, and gave her acceptance speech.

Liu Yifei is now very skilled and has a great presence.

Next up was Best Actor, with Zhang Yi and Zhang Songwen both nominated, but ultimately Liu Qingyun won for his outstanding performance in "Life Without Principle".

Sun Yi was speechless about the award. Admittedly, he thought the two Zhangs' performances in "New World" were outstanding, but he had to admit that Liu Yingdi's performance in "Life Without Principle" was also impeccable.

Following the same procedure, after Best Actor, it was time for Best Director.

Among the award nominees, Sun Yi is undoubtedly the one who has attracted the most attention.

If Sun Yi wins the award tonight, he will be the youngest Best Director winner in Golden Horse history.

As if to show its importance, the presenter for the Best Director award was none other than the chairman of the jury, Andy Lau.

When Liu Yifei saw Andy Lau walking gracefully onto the stage with an envelope in hand, she clenched her fists tightly. She was even more nervous than when she was nominated for Best Actress.

Upon seeing this, Sun Yi smiled, took her hand, gently pried open her clenched fist one by one, and then drew a big smiley face on her palm with his fingertips.

Liu Yifei was both annoyed and amused.

In such a tense moment, you actually have the mind to play this.

Can't we just play like we do when we get home at night?
Liu Yifei pouted.

Although I know I'm trying to relax, how can I really relax when it involves my brother's Best Director award?
"The winner of the Best Director award at the 49th Golden Horse Awards is Sun Yi, for 'New World'."

Unlike Huang Bo, Andy Lau didn't keep everyone in suspense; he announced it directly.

However, contrary to everyone's expectations, Sun Yi won the Best Director award not for "Gravity", but for "New World".

Perhaps this year's Golden Horse Awards is going to be different.

However, to be fair, both "Gravity" and "New World" are excellent films. It's just that "New World" might not be so easy to win awards in mainland China, since the film's theme is somewhat controversial.

But the judges on the Taiwanese side just love this kind of thing; the more it pushes the boundaries, the more they like it.

Sun Yi followed the same approach as Liu Yifei: after a kiss, they went on stage to accept their award, thanked a whole bunch of people, and of course, didn't forget to specifically thank Liu Mouqian at the end.

Someone in the audience was overjoyed.

Tonight, the two of them have made history at the Golden Horse Awards.

One award marks the first time a Best Actress winner has been shared by two winners, while the other makes the winner the youngest Best Director in the history of the Golden Horse Awards.

Mainland netizens watching the awards ceremony live on Starry Sky Video had their screens filled with comments.

All of these are awesome and amazing.

Some people have even compiled statistics showing that since his debut, Sun Yi has won the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Director, the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director, and now the Golden Horse Award. In the entire Chinese-language film and television industry, only the Golden Rooster Award remains.

Some people even recalled last year's Golden Rooster Awards, still criticizing the organizing committee and speaking out for Sun Yi.

Even a Golden Rooster, which belongs to our own people, can't compare to the generosity of a Golden Horse.

These are all just jokes from netizens.

Sun Yi didn't take it seriously when he saw it, and that very night after the awards ceremony, he took Liu Yifei back to Beijing.

Next, the two will prepare for the promotional roadshow for "Edge of Tomorrow".

The day after the Golden Horse Awards, on the 26th, was three days before the release of Huayi Brothers' "1942," which marked the official opening of this year's Lunar New Year film season.

Another major scandal has suddenly broken in the industry.

The escalating revenue-sharing battle between production companies and theater chains has suddenly taken a turn.

On this day, Huayi unilaterally issued a notice announcing that it would accept the original 43% revenue sharing ratio for this year's Lunar New Year film season, remaining unchanged.

Immediately afterward, as if to reciprocate, the theaters announced that they would increase the opening day screening rate of "1942" by 10 percentage points, keeping it at 38%.

"Third Master, that bastard Hua Yi is indeed unreliable."

"In that case, let them do as they please."

"Third Master, I want to move up the release date of 'Wolf Warrior'."

"Are you sure? Although moving your release date up now will take up some screenings, it certainly won't be much. Is it worth it just for the sake of saving face?"

"There's no question of whether it's worth it or not. If everyone did what Huayi Brothers did, our production alliance might as well disband. Starry Sky lost money on just one 'Wolf Warrior' film."

"Okay, I'll take care of it for you."

On the same afternoon that Huayi Brothers and the cinema chains made their tacit agreement, China Film Group issued a last-minute notice that, at the request of the distribution company, the premiere date of "Wolf Warrior" would be moved up by one week, and the premiere date would be adjusted to November 30.

Films featuring stars, once released, will at least secure 10% of the screenings.

In other words, Huayi Brothers went to great lengths to secure 10 screening slots, but it could only last for one day, and the slots had to be given to "Wolf Warrior" on the second day.

Sun Yi, you son of a bitch!!!

(End of this chapter)